The signatures of a bubble collision: A collision (top left) induces a temperature modulation in the CMB temperature map (top right). The blob associated with the collision is identified by a large needlet response (bottom left), and the presence of an edge is determined by a large response from the edge detection algorithm (bottom right). Image credit: Feeney, et al.

(PhysOrg.com) -- By looking far out into space and observing whats going on there, scientists have been led to theorize that it all started with a Big Bang, immediately followed by a brief period of super-accelerated expansion called inflation. Perhaps this was the beginning of everything, but lately a few scientists have been wondering if something could have come before that, setting up the initial conditions for the birth of our universe.

In the most recent study on pre-Big Bang science posted at arXiv.org, a team of researchers from the UK, Canada, and the US, Stephen M. Feeney, et al, have revealed that they have discovered four statistically unlikely circular patterns in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The researchers think that these marks could be bruises that our universe has incurred from being bumped four times by other universes. If they turn out to be correct, it would be the first evidence that universes other than ours do exist.

The idea that there are many other universes out there is not new, as scientists have previously suggested that we live in a multiverse consisting of an infinite number of universes. The multiverse concept stems from the idea of eternal inflation, in which the inflationary period that our universe went through right after the Big Bang was just one of many inflationary periods that different parts of space were and are still undergoing. When one part of space undergoes one of these dramatic growth spurts, it balloons into its own universe with its own physical properties. As its name suggests, eternal inflation occurs an infinite number of times, creating an infinite number of universes, resulting in the multiverse.

These infinite universes are sometimes called bubble universes even though they are irregular-shaped, not round. The bubble universes can move around and occasionally collide with other bubble universes. As Feeney, et al., explain in their paper, these collisions produce inhomogeneities in the inner-bubble cosmology, which could appear in the CMB. The scientists developed an algorithm to search for bubble collisions in the CMB with specific properties, which led them to find the four circular patterns.

Still, the scientists acknowledge that it is rather easy to find a variety of statistically unlikely properties in a large dataset like the CMB. The researchers emphasize that more work is needed to confirm this claim, which could come in short time from the Planck satellite, which has a resolution three times better than that of WMAP (where the current data comes from), as well as an order of magnitude greater sensitivity. Nevertheless, they hope that the search for bubble collisions could provide some insight into the history of our universe, whether or not the collisions turn out to be real.

The conclusive non-detection of a bubble collision can be used to place stringent limits on theories giving rise to eternal inflation; however, if a bubble collision is verified by future data, then we will gain an insight not only into our own universe but a multiverse beyond, the researchers write in their study.

This is the second study in the past month that has used CMB data to search for what could have occurred before the Big Bang. In the first study, Roger Penrose and Vahe Gurzadyan found concentric circles with lower-than-average temperature variation in the CMB, which could be evidence for a cyclic cosmology in which Big Bangs occur over and over.

i’ll never forget when i was in science class in high school- and the teacher told the class that space never ends and has no beginning— a girl stood up and said that there has to be an end or a wall or something.. i told the girl- well, whats on the other side of the wall? confusion set in quick..the bible states that God had no beginning and has no end— the human mind cant understand a no beginning and no end— stange huh?— just thought i would share that—ha ha

If a finite amount of matter coming together results in a big bang, it is not realistic to assume that the total amount of matter in existance equates to that amount. Nor does it really make sense to refer to various such bursts as separate universes.

It is a testimate to the inability of the human mind to contemplate very, very, near infinite scale that we invent new ways to comprehend it.

10
posted on 12/18/2010 4:24:50 PM PST
by SampleMan
(If all of the people currently oppressed shared a common geography, bullets would already be flying.)

My question is: where exactly are these other universes supposed to be? In another dimension? Or is it like radio waves, where the waves travel simultaneously at different frequences—this way they don’t intefere with each other when they traverse the same space.

If there is an alternate conservative universe, I’d like to go there—NOW!!

The more the merrier, I say! It has been my personal theory that THE REDEEMED will not spend eternity sitting on some cloud plunking on a harp, as some scoffers like to say. God is a bigtime Operator, and I believe we will spend eternity developing the
universe(s), in our glorified bodies, just like the one Christ was in when He arose on that first Easter morning and walked out of the Garden Tomb.

Psalms 16:11 “Thou wilt show me the path of life; in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

Christ said that in Heaven there is neither marrying or giving in marriage; but we will be like the angels. Matt 22:30 and Mark 12:25. I infer that to mean we will be all one gender.....sorta’.

Once we are free of these earthsuit bodies, and are pure spirit beings with glorified spirit bodies like Christ’s resurrection body, God will have acquired His Forever Family, which is what He desired in the first place, and there will be no more need for procreation.

In our glorified spiritual state, the idea of having sex will be as infantile as a little kid pushing his little model truck around on the floor and making brrrrr motor sounds while he does it. It’s a real big deal to us here and now. But when we ascend to THAT level, we will be in a glorified state, HIGH above the primitive state we are in now. IMHO

There is a cosmological answer to that question. You’ve seen the model of space as a grid in which physical objects make indentations?

The gravity of those objects actually bends space. More properly it could be called space-time, because space and time are essentially two facets of the same thing.

The universe does this as well. So if you made a perfectly straight line heading to the “side” of the universe, after a very, very long trip, you would end up at the same point you started from, offset by other internal movement within the universe.

Like the theory of evolution, the big bang idea is a bunch of bullshit which is mainly being defended by academic dead wood. The idea of multiple universes is mainly motivated by a clear understanding of the laws of probability and what the odds are against evolution and evoloserism in the one universe we actually have in real life.

I’ve watched for years and years as these folks come up with one theory to explain the failures of another theory. I watched these folks pass theory as fact when pushing another theory. I watched the same folks keep trying to push a universe with boundaries, multiple universes, other dimensions, etc...., and of course discuss it as though it is fact - AND get funded for it handsomely - while real scientists doing actual experiments “in situ” get the crumbs. (Most of the funding is from government - just another form of welfare and dependency that undermines those doing real work.) And these same real scientists don’t get defensive when in many cases - they too are still stuck with theories in some cases.

In my opinion, these “theoretical” folks who can’t get past theory but talk like they have are simply insecure people.

I for one have no insecurities over the possibility that our universe IS the only one and has literally no beginning, end or border. I am not surprised when a new telescope shows more stars behind known stars - nor will I be surprised when the generation telescope shows more behind those ad nauseum - n++;

Down to earth people like real scientists are very secure in their being.

Imagine a 2-D universe. It's a sheet of paper. It's infinitely large. Cartoon characters can crawl on that sheet; but they don't know the meaning of "up" or "down." That's your Flatland.

Now imagine that there is a stack of such sheets. Sometimes they hang one over the other, sometimes they "bump" into each other. (They are all parallel to each other.)

Can you explain "what is between them" sheets, using only the terminology of Flatlanders? You and me would say "air" or whatever else represents the 3rd dimension. But those poor Flatlanders have no such concept.

If we bump the whole model up a notch, the 4th dimension can be visualized as a gradual change of things that may already exist in our 3-D world. For example, what will happen when a 4-D sphere crosses through our 3-D plane of existence? First, there is nothing. Then a tiny sphere appears from nowhere. Then it grows. Then it shrinks, down to a tiny point, and then vanishes. What we see are 3-D sections of a larger, 4-D object.

So if there are multiple Universes that are separated by one or more other dimensions then when those Universes intersect they become visible to each other - just like when two paper sheets cross, the drawings on them (points, actually) become visible to both sets of Flatlanders. Also a Flatlander then can cross from his plane of existence onto the other one because the fact that the surface is sharply bent in 3rd dimension is lost on him.

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